Ahuva Gold, currently finishing up her MA in Bible at Revel, will be staffing the Revel welcome desk and helping to strengthen our school’s alumni network. Ahuva has been a part of the YU community since 2008 when she began studying at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education while also teaching at the Moriah elementary school in Englewood, NJ. Ahuva loved teaching at Moriah, which she did until this past June. As she puts it, “There’s something special about giving kids the building blocks of Judaism.” This fall, however, Ahuva will take on new pedagogic challenges as she joins the Yeshiva College faculty teaching Biblical Hebrew—a position for which her Revel Bible professors recommended her highly.
It was always clear to Ahuva that her passion lies in teaching. She remembers spending recess in elementary school standing at the blackboard play-teaching the meraglim in Bamidbar. In retrospect, then, the trajectory of Ahuva’s education and teaching career seems to have unfolded naturally. In her own words, Ahuva “really enjoys learning new material and being able to give it over and help other people access it.”
Soon after completing her Azrieli degree, Ahuva decided to audit a Revel course—Dr. Leiman’s Introduction to Biblical Studies, which fascinated her. Dr. Leiman’s “massorah project” (an assignment designed to introduce students to the various layers of masoretic notes) brought home to Ahuva how vast the field of Tanakh scholarship alone is—and that becoming familiar with its many facets is a worthwhile pursuit. And so, even though she already had earned one graduate degree, Ahuva decided to pursue a second Master’s degree program in Bible at Revel, a decision that she now is very glad she made.
Ahuva did not particularly expect to make friends in graduate school which she initially thought of primarily as a professional preparatory step in her career. But at Revel, in fact, she now feels connected with “the best chevra,” including people whom she respects greatly, some from a background similar to hers, and others from quite different backgrounds.
The new challenges that this year will bring excite Ahuva greatly. She looks forward both to the new vista of college teaching that awaits her at YC and to the opportunity to harness her graduate-school experiences to enhance Revel’s community of students and alumni.
This article was written by Elianna Mitnick, Revel MA student in Bible
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